D. Ciarlo, A proposito di un passo di Metodio di Olimpo riguardante la statua di Zeus a Olimpia, p. 3

Méthode d’Olympe (De resurrectione I, 35, 2-4, texte grec conservé par Épiphane, Panarion 64, 27, 5-8), pour plaider en faveur de la résurrection du corps, établit un parallèle entre l’activité créatrice de Dieu et l’œuvre des sculpteurs: comme ces derniers cherchent à assurer à leurs statues en ivoire la plus longue durée de vie en les aspergeant d’huile, ainsi Dieu se comportera avec le corps humain, en le faisant ressusciter pour l’éternité. Dans l’article il est démontré que Méthode renvoie à la statue de Phidias de Zeus à Olympie et que sa source est Pausanias, Graeciae descriptio V, 10, 2.

 

A. Schminck, Zum Beginn des Baus der justinianischen Hagia Sophia (sowie zur Abfassung des Troparions Ὁ μονογενής und zur Einführung des Ὑπαπαντὴ-Festes), p. 9

Su un passo della redazione della Cronaca di Simeone il Logoteta che è posta sotto il nome di Leone Grammatico (ed. I. Bekker, Bonn 1842, pp. 126-127): vi si riferisce la data d’inizio della costruzione giustinianea della S. Sofia (a.m. 6040 = a.D. 532, 23 febbraio), ricordando inoltre la composizione, da parte dell’imperatore, del tropario inc. Ὁ μονογενής e la definitiva introduzione, da parte sua, nel calendario liturgico costantinopolitano della festa della Presentazione al Tempio (Ὑπαπαντή). La verosimiglianza della seconda e della terza informazione contenute nel passo rafforza l’idea della veridicità della prima: del resto, la data di inizio dei lavori della S. Sofia pare, dunque, collocarsi programmaticamente a quaranta giorni – numero dalle evidenti valenze simboliche – dall’incendio della basilica verificatosi nel corso della rivolta di Nika, il 13 gennaio 532. Allo stesso anno andranno probabilmente riferiti la composizione del tropario e la stabilizzazione calendariale della festività.

 

A. Torno Ginnasi, Il contributo della numismatica e della sfragistica al concetto di «Rinascenza macedone» nell’arte bizantina, p. 23

L’article, divisé en deux parties, est dédié aux changements formels et iconographiques sur les monnaies et les bulles impériales produites à Constantinople au cours de la soi-disant «Renaissance macédonienne». La première section analyse les aspects formels par rapport aux nouveaux schémas de présentation des protagonistes et aux tentatives de dépassement de portraits stéréotypés. La deuxième section concerne les aspects iconographiques, de l’apparition de personnages sacrés à la naissance de l’image du couronnement symbolique de l’empereur. Bien que l’idée d’une vraie renaissance artistique ait été relativisée, les innovations monétaires de ces décennies dévoilent une vivacité figurative renouvelée qui caractérisera même les émissions suivantes.

 

F. Potenza, Un nuovo canone mariano di Basilio Pegane? Riflessioni su una possibile identità di autore, p. 51

The present paper provides a new critical edition of a recently edited canon in honour of the Theotokos. Transmitted by two manuscript witnesses – the Horologion MS Sinai, Greek 864 (IX-X, or maybe IX cent.) and a Theotokarion in Moscow, State Historical Museum, Syn. Greek 438 (299 Vlad.: 1021/1022 AD) –, the hymn has already been published in Livre d’heures du Sinaï (Sinaiticus graecus 864), [éd.] par Sœur M.(L.) Ajjoub (…), avec la collaboration de J. Paramelle (…), Paris 2004 (Sources chrétiennes, 486), but the editio princeps is based only on the codex Sinaiticus, where the canon’s text is obscured by numerous misspellings and is transmitted anonymously. By contrast, the codex Mosquensis, in a marginal note today hard to read, offers the name of the author, although incomplete (Βασίλειος Π[.]γ[…]). Besides the new edition – accompanied by an Italian translation and a commentary on the text –, this paper deals with some structural, stylistic, and lexical elements of the hymn, in order to investigate the possible identification of Basileios P[.]g[…], author of the canon edited here for the second time, and Basileios Peganes (Βασίλειος Πηγάνης), the hymnographer of another canon in honour of the Virgin, which has been edited elsewhere by the author of the present paper.

 

Th. Antonopoulou, Philagathos Kerameus and Emperor Leo VI: On a Model of the Ecphrasis of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo, p. 115

Il presente articolo intende mettere in evidenza una fil rouge che, sul piano letterario, unisce testi omiletici prodotti nel IX secolo nella capitale bizantina, Costantinopoli, a un’omelia scritta invece nel XII secolo in un’altra capitale, la Palermo normanna. Sulla base di una serie di argomentazioni, infatti, si suggerisce qui che, nella composizione dell’ecphrasis della Cappella Palatina nella sua omelia nr. 27, Filagato da Cerami mostri di conoscere e impiegare come fonti – finora mai riconosciute come tali – le omelie dell’imperatore Leone VI contrassegnate dai nrr. 31 e soprattutto 37, che includono a loro volta ecphraseis di chiese e di cui si può dimostrare la circolazione nell’ambiente culturale in cui l’omileta d’età normanna si muoveva. Filagato, peraltro, ha saputo abilmente riadattare al suo testo il contesto retorico-omiletico e gli elementi di ideologia imperiale costantinopolitana che caratterizzano le ecphraseis prosastiche di chiese della sua fonte, ponendoli a servizio del suo intento di legittimazione ed esaltazione della monarchia normanna.

 

A. Jacob, L’épitaphe du hiéromoine Antoine à Castro en Terre d’Otrante, p. 129

Edizione, commento e analisi paleografica di un’iscrizione bizantina inedita su pietra datata 1176/1177, rinvenuta a Castro in Terra d’Otranto durante i lavori di restauro del castello, in cui è registrata la morte di uno ieromonaco di nome Antonio. Se il territorio della piccola diocesi di Castro, fondata nel secolo X, conserva un ricco dossier epigrafico bizantino (di cui si offre qui una breve rassegna), non erano state finora segnalate nella città vescovile iscrizioni medievali in lingua greca (quelle note sono tutte in latino). Il nuovo ritrovamento, oltre ad aggiungere un ulteriore tassello all’elenco delle iscrizioni grecosalentine datate, costituisce una valida testimonianza della presenza bizantina nella stessa Castro dopo l’instaurazione della gerarchia latina.

 

A. Prinzi, Un manoscritto agiografico autografo di Giovanni Rossanese: il palinsesto Vat. gr. 2302, p. 137

Cette contribution concerne la description codicologique et paléographique du manuscrit palimpseste et autographe Vat. gr. 2302, confectionné à Grottaferrata dans le premier quart du XIIIe siècle par le copiste Jean de Rossano. Il a composé lui-même la plupart des textes transmis par l’écriture supérieure, qui constituent le dossier hymnologique et hagiographique des saints martyrs de Terracine, Césaire et Julien. Pour la confection de ce manuscrit le copiste a réemployé partiellement le parchemin appartenant à quatre témoins anciens: l’analyse de l’écriture sous-jacente a permis d’identifier les textes qu’elle renferme avec des pièces de la littérature canonique, des extraits du commentaire aux Psaumes d’Hésychius de Jérusalem, des extraits des Actes des Apôtres et un passage du Livre d’Agathange. La souscription en dodécasyllabes byzantins au f. 8v, composée en forme d’invocation aux deux martyrs de Terracine par Jean de Rossano et publiée ici pour la première fois, contient des éléments qui permettent de dater la confection du manuscrit plus précisément entre 1217 et 1221.

 

A. Sirinian – F. D’Aiuto, I codici armeni miniati a Roma nel Duecento, I: Contesto, iconografie, stili, p. 161

Surprisingly enough, the production of Armenian manuscripts in Rome during the Middle Ages seems to have been flourishing, especially during the 13th century. One must admit, in truth, that the two oldest extant manuscripts, dating respectively from the years 1221 and 1226 (or 1228), should probably be better classified as examples of the early circulation of Armenian codices in medieval Rome than as local products – even though the first item’s transcription seems to have been completed in Rome, where its colophon was written. On the other hand, seven later manuscripts are explicitly dated and situated in the City of the Popes in the years from 1239 to 1269 by their detailed colophons (three of these codices unfortunately seem to be lost now, and are known only from 19th-century descriptions); moreover, even after the end of the 13th century, another richly illuminated manuscript was produced there in 1310. In this study, the authors deal in particular with a handful of illuminated manuscripts within the extant witnesses of this group of Armenian codices from the Roman Duecento. The analysis of their different styles and iconographies shows interesting phenomena of convivencia between cultures, and highlights the many traces of contacts with other visual traditions. In fact, various trends, motifs, and elements that are characteristic of Armenian illumination – from Greater Armenia or, conversely, from the more sophisticated painting tradition of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia – can here be found side by side with motifs of probable Byzantine origin, or are combined with significant Western elements, still influenced by the earlier Romanesque tradition or, on the contrary, updated to the contemporary early-Gothic taste. As for the contexts of their production and circulation, an interesting picture of the forms and places of the Armenian presence in Rome emerges from the study of these manuscripts in conjunction with the other, relevant documentary or epigraphic evidence. During the Middle Ages, Rome was one of the main destinations for Armenian pilgrims and diplomats – monks, churchmen, and laymen –, and the Armenians used to have there their monasteries, churches, hospices. Anyway, diplomatic missions from and to the Armenian motherland seem to have intensified during the 13th century, on account of the political instability of Armenian Cilicia at certain moments, or because of the negotiations for the ecclesiastical union; moreover, the Mongol threat in Anatolia must also have led to a strengthening of contacts between the Armenians and Rome.

 

Ch. Aimi, I codici armeni miniati a Roma nel Duecento, II: Caratteristiche codicologiche, grafiche, ornamentali, p. 227

The present paper offers an overview of the production of Armenian manuscripts in Rome during the 13th century. Nine codices dating from 1221 to 1269 are taken into consideration; a later manuscript, copied in Rome in 1310 (New Julfa, St. Saviour Monastery, ms. 38), falls outside the chronological limits of the present research. For six codices – Vatican Library, Arch. Cap. S. Pietro B. 77 (AD 1221); Vatican Library, Vat. arm. 4 (AD 1226 or 1228); Erevan, Matenadaran, ms. 218 (AD 1240); Venice, San Lazzaro, Mekhitarist Library, ms. 1374 (AD 1254); New Julfa, St. Saviour Monastery, ms. 30 (AD 1262); Erevan, Matenadaran, ms. 142 (AD 1269) –, codicological, palaeographical and textual data and a systematic description of the decorative apparatus are given, on the basis of an autoptic examination or, in the case of the New Julfa codex, using photographs. Unfortunately, three manuscripts mentioned in previous studies – olim London, British Museum, n.n. (AD 1239); olim Tigranakert, Surb Kirakos, n.n. (AD 1242); olim Oxford, Bodleian Library, n.n. (AD 1268) – seem now to be lost.

 

N. Zorzi, Per la tradizione manoscritta dell’inedito commento all’Etica nicomachea di Giorgio Pachimere: I. Il Marc. gr. 212 di Bessarione e i suoi apografi. II. Ermolao Barbaro e il commento di Pachimere (con una proekdosis del cap. 18), p. 245

Part I: The Byzantine scholar George Pachymeres (ca. 1242-post 1307) composed a Paraphrasis (i.e. a commentary) of the Nicomachean Ethics, still unpublished. As far as we know, it is preserved in three manuscripts: Marc. gr. 212 (where the text is in Bessarions’s hand), Scor. T. I. 18 (gr. 138) and Vat. gr. 1429. These manuscripts are studied here in order to establish the relationship among them, considering both their history and a partial collation of Pachymeres’ text. MS Marc. gr. 212 is partly due to the «Anonymus χ λ», a scribe working with Bessarion in the years 1425-1430, as can be inferred by MS Marc. gr. 148. Both manuscripts, therefore, are probably to be dated to the period of Bessarion’s education with John Chortasmenos in Constantinople. The dossier of the «Anonymus χ λ» is here analyzed for the first time. – Part II: The Venetian nobleman and humanist Hermolaus Barbaro owned a copy of Pachymeres’ Paraphrasis. Hermolaus’ manuscript has not been identified yet, but it was certainly an apograph of Marc. gr. 212. Hermolaus quotes the Paraphrasis in a marginal note in the Plimpton MS 17 of the Columbia University, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York. These elements testify that Barbaro was acquainted with the Paraphrasis, a commentary almost unknown in his time as it is now, and confirm the extraordinary level of his Aristotelian studies. In the Appendix a proekdosis of Chapter 18 of Pachymeres’ Paraphrasis, concerning EN 1128a 11-1128b 9 (IV 14), is offered.

 

J. Quarti, «Baiser les pieds». Excerpta syropuliani in una polemica tra Ugonotti e Cattolici (1611-1617), p. 305

Despite Vitalien Laurent’s investigation of the modern reception of Sylvester Syropoulos’ Mémoires, the context of their first use as a historical source in the early-modern confessional debate between Catholics and Protestants proved elusive. Nevertheless, the readership history of MS Paris, BnF, grec 427 – i.e., the copy of the Mémoires which was preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi as of the 17th century – provides some decisive details regarding the early circulation of this text. Thanks to the identification of excerpta that were selected from Book IV (Syr. IV. 30-33, 39) and included in the anti-papal treatise Le Mystère d’iniquité (1611) by Philippe Duplessis-Mornay, this paper sheds light on the earliest reception of Syropoulos’ work. In so doing, it takes into consideration the various early-modern interpretations of this long-contested source, the contribution of the French intellectual circles which fostered the historical investigation of the Council of Ferrara-Florence, and the role of Syropoulos’ Mémoires in the political debate between Catholics and Huguenots regarding the papal potestas in temporalibus.

 

Résumés degli articoli, p. 331

 

Pubblicazioni ricevute, p. 335

 

Norme per l’invio di contributi alla redazione e procedura di peer review, p. 349